New to backpacking terms...

[azbackpackr]

Someone mentioned being new to backpacking and not realizing the term is generally used for trips of more than one day, whereas "dayhiking" is often used to distinguish trips of one day. I have run across this confusion before... So just to confuse further, I have come up with a list...it was kind of fun to come up with and I bet there are a few of you who have a few more terms:

There is "thru-hiking," which are those really long deals where someone will hike the whole Arizona trail, 800 miles in one pop, or the Appalachian Trail, over 2500 miles, etc. (Takes a LOT of planning and time.) You will see references to the AZT, PCT, AT, and CDT, and GET as thru-hiker's trails. And there is a kind of thru-hiking which is called fast-packing where they try to do a long trail faster than anyone else has ever done it before (and one wonders if they see anything at all...) And yet another kind of thru-hiking is called "section hiking" where the person bites off a big chunk of a long trail but not the whole thing at one time, and keeps going back a week or so at a time, until finished. (Some people take 20 years to section-hike the Appalachian Trail, others only 4 months or so to thru-hike it!)

Then there is "bushwhacking" which is off-trail, and "scrambling" which is where you might have to use your hands sometimes, and is also off-trail. And you get into the catclaw and wish you had gloves, and then you notice you are the only one in the group wearing shorts and no gloves, and you understand your terrible mistake...

Then there is "peak bagging" which is this kind of fun but rather ridiculously obsessive hobby of hiking to the tops of peaks and keeping a list of which ones you did--people try to get 500 or 1000 of them, etc. It often doesn't matter if they are really small, they just have to be on some list or another. The Arizona Big List, or the SAHC 400 list, or the Angeles Chapter Desert Peaks List, or the Colorado 14ers list, etc. Sort of like birding, but with slightly different silly clothes.

And "canyoneering" which often requires ropes and rock climbing skills and wetsuits and flotation devices, etc. Very specialized. (You can take classes in that.) Bushwhacking, scrambling, canyoneering and peakbagging can be done as dayhikes OR as backpacks.

Confused yet? I am!

There are a bunch more terms, but those are enough for now. Just as long as you don't start calling it "trekking" I'll be happy... Trekking is what you do in Nepal. The porters carry everything, all you need is a whole lot of money. We live in the western United States, and we are hikers.

[kevinweitzel75]

Thanx for the confusion Liz. lol. Acually, I got most of them right. Kind of easy if you think about it. Although canyoneering, I learned, a person(s) can use a raft or something of the sort mixed with everything else. Interesting. Thank you.

[azbackpackr]

Canyoneering sounds fun but is out of my reach at the moment. So, I just do what is at hand. I have bikes, and hiking and backpacking gear, and xc skis.

[fairweather8588]

Perhaps a glossary of terms for HIkeAZ?

[JimmyLyding]

There's nothing ridiculous about peak-bagging. I'm going to sic johnr1 on you!

[joebartels]

Perhaps a glossary of terms for HIkeAZ?

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[azbackpackr]

There's nothing ridiculous about peak-bagging. I'm going to sic johnr1 on you!

OOOOh, I'm so scared!

I have known some of these SAHC peak baggers. The way I know them, I got the SAHC 25 peaks patch, right before I moved up to the White Mtns. Most of them have fun doing it. Others, I have to wonder. They hike to the top, they DON'T EVEN LOOK AT THE VIEW, they don't sit and eat lunch or anything or enjoy being up there and seeing what can be seen from that particular vantage point, or pointing out landmarks, etc. They just tag the top, sign the register if there is one, and leave. Been-there-done-that kind of attitude.

Now I love climbing to the tops of mountains, but those people who do it only to compete with one another and finish the SAHC 400 list before some other people, to tick one more off their list, and without even enjoying the scenery along the way, ARE RIDICULOUS AND OBSESSIVE. These are the type of people who, if you start talking about the spiritual values of hiking, will give you a blank look, or worse, will heap scorn upon you. To them, the outdoors is no more than a giant training facility to assuage their competitive egos.

Which is why I won't be seen doing Grand Canyon rim to rim in one day. I want to savor and enjoy the Canyon, not be "challenged" by it. It is not a race course, treadmill, stair climber, or something to be "beaten," etc. I am glad that activity takes place on the Corridor trails, where I rarely go. There are already thousands of people hiking those trails, so a few thousand more who have a need to compete and be "challenged" can do that without spoiling it for me.

I do believe in spiritual values, and I do not believe that having a competitive attitude will foster or bring on very much of a spiritual experience. I don't say there is exactly anything bad about having a competitive ego. What I am saying is people who focus solely on that one aspect of life are going to miss out on some other values.

[PaleoRob]

I use trekking as a term for hiking here in Arizona. Usually if the area is flat and open and we're just cruising across the plain.

[azbackpackr]

Isn't that "truckin"? ;)

I got started disliking the term "trekking" quite a few years ago, I guess, due to meeting certain people...rich East Coast non-hikers who had been to Nepal and gone trekking, as I recall. It was ALWAYS people from the East Coast using that term. Perhaps the connotation has softened over the years, but it did hold a sort of East Coast/European connotation for years. I grew up in the West, and my parents took me "hiking" starting when I was about 4 or 5, I think. (And, if you recall, I was 4 or 5 in the 50's) And my rough-and-tough outdoorsy aunt lived in Nevada, was a lot older than my mom, and was big on "hiking." I was crazy about my aunt! And we joined a hiking club when I was about 12, and we went "hiking."

So, then, all of a sudden these people start flooding into the West from everywhere, and they want to change everything to make it just exactly like whatever horrible awful place they had escaped from. Gun laws, etc. And, the terminology of "hiking." So, I ain't goin' fer it, pardner! Them East coast snobs can take their trekking boots and go home!

[nonot]

There are two types of canyoneering:

nontechnical: which isn't much different than hiking
technical: which is a world away from hiking

nontechnical canyoneering is for canyons rated as class 1 or class 2. In addition to hiking, expect to have to do scrambling in class 2 canyons, potentially some scary scrambling.

technical canyoneering is for canyons rated as class 3 or class 4. In addition to hiking, expect to have to do some downclimbing, anchor building, rappelling.

Both nontechnical and technical canyoneering may require swimming, which is the second letter of the rating (B and C)

Some examples
1A: nontechnical canyoneering: a hike down a canyon, suitable for most with solid hiking ability
2B: some scrambling and some wading/swimming down a canyon, suitable for persons with solid hiking and swimming ability, persons must be comfortable with scrambling and downclimbing steep and rocky terrain.
3A: rappelling, no swimming will be encountered, need a rope, harness, and other gear to rappel, experienced persons only
4C: If you are hear reading this now learning this for the first time, consider this to be a quick way for your relatives to collect on your will.

[fairweather8588]

Perhaps a glossary of terms for HIkeAZ?

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touche

[azbackpackr]

Perhaps a glossary of terms for HIkeAZ?

Bottom of every non-forum page between Feedback and Search

Interestingly, I did not find "backpacking" on that list. And I have met quite a few people over the last 10 years who were confused about the term. I tell people I am going backpacking, and then have to explain that I stay overnight and carry my tent and sleeping bag. It is astonishing how many people are unfamiliar with the concept. My father-in-law did not understand, for example, why we didn't camp in car campgrounds with the Scouts when we went backpacking.

[te_wa]

"Backpacking (in US; tramping, trekking, or bushwalking in other countries) combines hiking and camping in a single trip. A backpacker hikes into the backcountry to spend one or more nights there, and carries supplies and equipment, usually in a backpack, to satisfy sleeping and eating needs. A backpacking trip must include at least one overnight stay in the wilderness (otherwise it is a day hike). Many backpacking trips last just a weekend (one or two nights), but long-distance expeditions may last weeks or months, sometimes aided by planned food and supply drops."

that is the definition i chose to add to the glossary list. funny Liz, that it was not there before.. an oversight!

[azbackpackr]

Hmmm....must be He Who Must Not Be Named at work again!

Incidentally, thanks to nonot for the canyoneering details.